“We won’t leave our lands until we ourselves turn to dust”

Women of Bradost said they will resist Turkish state’s invasion attacks: “We won’t leave our lands until we ourselves turn to dust.”

ANF - ROJEN FIRAT/SARA XWÎNDA

BRADOST

Thursday, 20 Sep 2018, 15:30

Women of Bradost, partners in the resistance of Southern Kurdistan’s Bradost region that has managed to stand throughout history through resistance, said they have overcome the ongoing tyranny of the invasion through their loyalty to the land.

Meryem, one of the women who lives in the highlands, said they have been coming to the highlands for over 40 years: “But it used to be more beautiful. Now invaders don’t let us live in comfort and peace. They bomb around us every day. We can’t take our animals to pasture in our own mountains. This both threatens our animals and poses an issue for people whose only means of living is husbandry.”

Meryem said they are under constant bombing by Iran and Turkey, and continued: “We want the unity of Kurds. Only through that can the invasion be stopped and peace will come to Bradost. A 5-year-old child was killed by mortars fired by the Turkish state recently. But nobody sees these things. Thousands of our people have been killed, many of them don’t even have bones left. We want to live out the rest of our days on our own lands. We won’t leave the Bradost lands for any state. A person’s land is their honor and pride. I have 4 sons and 3 daughters, and I will sacrifice all if I have to for my land.”

“WE SHED OUR BLOOD ON THESE LANDS, WE WILL NEVER LET THEM GO”

On the massacre, a woman named Suar, who had lost her family and was wounded in a bombing in Sidekan district’s Lelikan village years ago, said: “If that massacre had been objected to, this invasion wouldn’t have happened.”

Suar, who lost her mother, two siblings and several cousins in the massacre, said: “We have many more martyrs. The Turkish state tyranny continues still. Because Bradost is not protected, the Turks think the invasion is legitimate. Fighter jets bomb civilian residential areas. There are times when we can’t sleep until the morning due to the noise the Turkish jets make. The people are suffering. We spend our lives in these mountains and highlands. We have nothing else beyond these. We have shed our blood on these lands, we will never let them go. All invaders must know this. We won’t leave our lands until we ourselves turn to dust.”